EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – UMKC volleyball opened the Cougar Classic on Friday with a 3-1 loss to Tulsa at the Vadalabene Center in Edwardsville, Ill. Alicia Harrington (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) and Mykal Sadler (Des Moines, Iowa) led the Roos in the loss with nine kills each as Harrington added 10 digs and Sadler hit .389 with four blocks.

“Unfortunately too many errors and a lack of execution of the game plan against a disciplined and aggressive serving Tulsa team kept us off balanced most of the night,” Head Coach Christi Posey said. “The important thing for us now is to bounce back and play well tomorrow."

Tulsa quickly jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the match, taking the first set 25-14, but UMKC stormed back to tie it at one set apiece after taking set two 25-22. In set two, the two teams battled back-and-forth until the Golden Hurricanes built an 18-15 lead midway through. At that point, however, the set was all UMKC as Alex Ratzlaff (Hillsboro, Kan.) started a 9-2 rally that put UMKC up 24-20 late. Tulsa closed the gap to two, but Harrington capped the set with a kill from libero Rhegan Spiegel (Savannah, Mo.).

The Roos, though, would not be able to complete the match comeback as Tulsa took the last two sets by scores of 25-19 and 25-14 to seal the victory.

For UMKC, Ratzlaff finished with eight kills and 14 digs and Emma Dyer (Higginsville, Mo.) chipped in seven kills and two blocks. In the back row, Spiegel tallied 24 digs and seven assists and Alli Schomers (Omaha, Neb.) notched a double-double with 22 assists and 11 digs. Kynnedy Myers (Rose Hill, Kan.), meanwhile, was the fifth and final Roo with double digit digs, adding 11 and nine assists.

The Blue & Gold will be back in action again tomorrow when they take on Wright State at 10 a.m. CT and SIU Edwardsville at 7 p.m. CT.